The 29-year-old driver led from pole position and dominated the 61-lap race before a lengthy safety car interruption reduced his lead and forced him to attack again in the closing stage as he passed Sebastian Vettel to win.

It was Hamilton's 29th career win, his seventh this year and his second in Singapore, ending four-time champion Vettel's run of three straight wins on the Southeast Asian street circuit.

Hamilton came home triumphant, 13.534 seconds ahead of Vettel, with Daniel Ricciardo third in the second Red Bull ahead of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Felipe Massa of Williams.

Hamilton moves up to 241 points, three clear of Rosberg, with five races remaining in one of the most tense and closely fought championships of recent years.

Lewis Hamilton celebrates after his win. Photo: AFP

DEDICATE WIN TO FANS

"I dedicate this win to my fans," Hamilton said after the race.

"Being here with all the British flags lifts you up so much. I don't think the fans realise that, but this win is for them," he added.

"Everyone was very close in qualifying so we didn't know what to expect tonight, but we got off cleanly," the British driver said.

Despite the win, Hamilton said he was disappointed that team-mate Nico Rosberg could not finish the race, but he relished gaining those precious points to get into the lead.

On the podium, Hamilton said that the team's goal tonight was to get a one-two finish.

"It would have been a hardcore race if Nico had been in the race with me as the car was feeling very good, so we would have been very strong," he said.

Rosberg turned up for the night race at the Marina Bay street circuit 22 points clear of pole-setter Hamilton.

His car failed to set off for the warm-up lap and he eventually started from the pitlane, then retired on lap 15, to leave Hamilton to win and take a three-point advantage to the Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton added: "I came here to gain those points and to get anything more than that is a bonus. We want to continue getting those one-twos still. The team will not be 100-per-cent happy today because we want to win collectively and be the dominant team altogether."

"By not getting that result, we have to go back to the drawing board."

Check out inSing’s guide for all you need to catch up on the Formula One action in Singapore.

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